An exceptional George III Covered Serving Dish, of large size, made in London in 1809 by Richard Cooke.

The Dish has a deep broad rectangular base which rises to a gadrooned rim decorated in each corner with Rococo shells flanked by acanthus foliage. The base is engraved, on each interior side, with the contemporary initial "S". The high domed stepped cover is decorated with a wide lobed band and terminates in a leaf capped crossed branch handle on an oval gadrooned plate. Both sides of the cover are engraved with a contemporary Armorial, with a Crest above, and the Motto "Deo Adjuvante" below.

The Arms, Crest and Motto are those of Levy Salomons of Burrswood and Broom Hill, Tunbridge, co. Kent. In 1795, he married Matilda de Mitz of Leiden, Holland. Their eldest son, pictured, was Sir David Salomon, 1st Baronet, created 1869. Sir David was founder of the London and Westminster Bank. A magistrate for the counties of Kent and Sussex, he was DL, for Sussex, High Sheriff of London and Middlesex 1835-36 and Kent 1839-40. He was Liberal M.P. for Greenwich in 1851 and represented this constituency again from 1859-1873. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1855.

The Dish is in excellent condition and is of a large size, so it could be used for a variety of purposes, serving vegetables, a bird or joint of meat. Both the cover and the base are fully marked. The quality of design and production is excellent, as one would be expected of this contemporary of Paul Storr. A.G. Grimwade in his work " London Goldsmiths 1697-1837, states that Richard Cooke's work shows a high standard and that he supplied the leading retailers, Rundell and Co and Jeffreys, Jones and Gilbert.